Rambunctious Conservative MP Michael Portillo has had a rude awakening after spending a week as an impoverished single "mum".
The millionaire politician agreed to fill the shoes of Jenny Milner, a struggling mother of four, for a TV documentary. Michael waved goodbye to his £1.6-million Belgravia townhouse and moved into Jenny's terraced home in Liverpool, where he had to live on the £317 she receives in wages and benefits.
After rent and bills were paid, the former Defence Secretary was left with £79 for the week. "I had so little idea of this sort of life, managing on this sort of income, eating this sort of food. I really didn't have much understanding of how a whole swathe of people are living their lives," he said.
Michael earns £200,000 a year in his career as a politician and broadcaster and he is estimated to be worth £1.8 million. In the programme, which will be shown next Wednesday on BBC2, viewers will see him washing dishes, cooking meals and working as a sales assistant in a supermarket.
Of course, he also has to be a parent to Tasha, 12, Anton, 11, Jacob ten, and eight-year-old Ellie. In one scene he tries to help Ellie with her reading, but when she gets a word wrong, he orders her to read the entire book twice. "I have got to show that I'm mum, and mum's word goes," declares the politician.
"This is a completely new experience and I can't say it is in any way an agreeable one," said Michael of his foray into working class parenthood. "It's really quite horrible."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
